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Aug 18

Lulu's (Temple City)

Food 01: San Gabriel

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Long ago I had an entry on Thanksgiving Dinner, Shanghai style, bought from a new local Shanghai restaurant nearby my house (across ¤s¤ô«F). Since then we've bought take out many times and never disappointed. Especially their "Drunken Chicken", so heavenly! I finally set foot in there. The food are just unique tasting and delicious. The bacon smoked bean curb tofu is yummy. Usually their stew-pot is very good, but this time we tried their 'red soup' (=with soy sauce) and it was too strong. Definitely stick to the basic white soup. Smoke Fish (good!) Shanghai Shrimp (very good!) and the dessert Wine Dreg Black Seseme-filled Rice Ball (°sÆC¤Y¤l) is fantastic, highlight of the dinner! :D

The location of this restaurant used to be a line of failed "cheat-gwai-lo" Americanized Chinese restaurants (with tacky name like "BoBo China"). We witnessed it going up and down for the past 15+ years. None of them survived more than 2 years. Finally, a real authentic Shanghai cuisine took over and Chinese people flocked over here. Of course the recent rush of Mainland Chinese immigrants moving into Temple City helps all the Asian businesses around that area. The quality demand are much higher now, so no bad tacky Americanized Chinese restaurants in sights anymore.

Freda | August 18, 2005 04:59 PM


Comments:

Tomoko, I don't know why the rush of immigrants, particularly from Mainland (more and more people have $ there now?) I suspect it might be because the "hidden" Temple City was finally discovered, it was not as expensive as Arcadia and it's a quiet, nice neighborhood that's quite convinient close to San Gabriel and Valley.

haha i wouldn't know how authentic looks too, I just assume they're authentic because of the Shanghainese waiters and the Shanghainese co-worker my dad knows like that place...^^;;;

Freda | August 20, 2005 10:35 AM

It was Bobo before and now is Lulu? ^^;;;

But the bacon tofu and the rice ball look nothing like what I have eaten in Shanghai restaurants! But then Shanghai restaurants in Hong Kong might not be that authentic...^^;;;

seat | August 19, 2005 07:27 PM

hahaha bobo china!
this place definitely looks authentic and good!

how come there is a rush of recent immigrants?

tomoko | August 19, 2005 11:35 AM